Occupational Therapy: Philosophy, Practice Frameworks and Cultural Competence

Running head: OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
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1OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Learning Outcome: 1
Occupation therapy involves working with individuals who are physically or mentally
challenged (Drolet,2014). It makes use of a systematic process of assessment in order to
design interventions to assist individuals or a group of individuals with activities of daily
living. Occupations involve activities that add a meaningful dimension to the life of
individuals. Involving in occupational activities promote all round development in terms of
physical and mental health wellness. Occupations can be classified under physical, social,
cultural, personal, virtual or temporal categories. The standard of quality of the occupational
performance varies from individual to individual. Some of the important elements that affect
the ability of the individuals to efficiently assimilate the occupational therapy includes the
environment in which the therapy is delivered and the nature of the activity.
Occupational therapy provides a platform to the challenged individuals to participate
in real-life situational contexts and enhance their ability to maintain a sustainable living.
Occupational therapy experts actively engage in imparting therapy so as to provide a
meaningful and adequate livelihood and attain positive outcomes. The underlying
philosophical theme of providing occupational therapy is based upon the utility of
occupations in validating health promotion. The various areas covered under health
promotion includes, restoration, maintenance of health, prevention of disease and injury and
adaptation. The overall aim of occupational therapy is to preserve and promote wellness at
the individual, community and population level so as to inculcate virtues of education,
research, advocacy and practice (Davis et al., 2016). However, it is critical to note here that
the philosophy behind the occupational therapy practice has evolved to a great extent over the
years.

2OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
The philosophy is a combination of humanism, romanticism and pragmatism ideals.
The elementary ideas behind the rational of the inclusion of occupational therapy include a
wide range of factors. Firstly, occupation is believed to elicit a positive impact on the overall
health and well-being. Secondly, Occupation raises the standard of life both culturally and on
a personal basis. Thirdly, occupation helps in time management and improves people’s
perception on an individual basis. Following the world war II the perception associated with
the philosophy of occupation therapy emerged to be a constricted or rather a more narrowed
down philosophy. Through the years the philosophy has evolved and in context of recent
times, three important theories are closely linked to the theme of occupational therapy. The
first theme explains the importance of occupation in terms of maintenance of health.
The second theme emphasises on the fact that the defined theories are broadly
constructed upon a holistic framework and the third theme focuses on the central components
of the occupational therapy to be people and the corresponding environment where the
therapy is administered. However, a major proportion of the theories designed by the
American Occupational Therapy Association have been criticised for only focusing on the
therapeutic aspect rather than emphasising upon the multicultural aspect (AOTA,2015). The
modern trend in the world of occupational therapy has witnessed a major transformation and
professionals in recent times work with a broader target audience and are not restricted to just
patients (Pendelton & Schultz-Krohn, 2017). Broader target audience include occupational
therapists working with refugees and homeless individuals.
Learning Outcome: 3
An occupational therapist assists a client and administers occupational therapy in a
sequential manner. The occupational therapy primarily comprises of three important steps
that include, assessment, designing of an intervention followed by evaluation of successful
outcomes (Durocher,Gibson & Rappolt,2014). The occupational therapists resort to this